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Subject: Re: Forced moves

Author: blass uri

Date: 12:16:02 07/31/99

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On July 31, 1999 at 12:55:54, Robert Hyatt wrote:

>On July 31, 1999 at 12:34:34, Robert Hyatt wrote:
>
>>On July 31, 1999 at 03:08:42, Ed Schröder wrote:
>>
>>>>This is easy to test.
>>>>
>>>>My hypothesis:  simple search is not good enough to discover that all moves
>>>>but one lead to mate, in any positions except for those near the point where a
>>>>game is already over (one side is mating the other).
>>>>
>>>>Ed's:  A simple search is good enough to discern forcing moves.
>>>>
>>>>How about someone looking for positions where all moves but one lead to a
>>>>forced mate...  IE one move must _not_ get mated, while all the rest do.
>>>>Then we decide whether the short search of Rebel can see this or not.
>>>>
>>>>Then we decide how often this kind of position occurs, and how often (when it
>>>>does) is a shallow search enough to recognize the forced nature.
>>>>
>>>>I don't think (a) it will work very well; (b) that it is worth the effort to
>>>>search with alpha=-inf, beta=+inf for every root move; (c) that by the time
>>>>this might have a chance of identifying a forcing move, the game is already
>>>>over and saving time is pointless...
>>>>
>>>>My opinion, of course...
>>>
>>>How about going one step further. Some years ago I did an experiment.
>>>Search the first iteration without A/B, then:
>>>
>>>if (best_score - second_best_score > margin_one) limit time control.
>>>if (best_score - second_best_score > margin_two) limit time control even more.
>>>
>>>etc.
>>>
>>>Also I tried this for the second iteration as well. Results were not bad at all
>>>as it also catches forced moves that aren't recaptures and escapes from
>>>checks. Moves sequences like 1..g5 2.Bg3 were also discovered and
>>>2.Bg3 was played very fast. I also remember a case 1.a7 Ra8 preventing
>>>the pawn to promote. Since 1..Ra8 was the only move 1..Ra8 was played
>>>instantly.
>>>
>>
>>
>>that's an easy one to break.  Take the position Cray Blitz vs Belle (I will
>>try to find the FEN but it is in one of the test suites (Bxh6 is a draw, Qxb6
>>loses).
>>
>>I'll bet you that you discover that Qxb6 is +3 better than any other move with
>>a 1 ply search.  And a 2 ply search...  and a 3, 4, 5 and 6 ply search...  and
>>beyond... until you finally see that it loses badly.
>>
>>Using your approach will get you killed there.  Care to guess how I know?  I
>>was there.  I used a scheme almost exactly like yours in 1980 or so, and it
>>made that very same mistake in that very same game, and lost quickly...  A 2
>>minute search would have shown Bxh6 drew and Qxb6 lost.  But CB assumed that
>>"Qxb6 was 'easy'"
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>>Note that Q-search in Rebel's first and second iteration were limited to 6 and
>>>8 plies to prevent the search to explode when A/B is not active. I also do
>>>check extensions in Q-search to discover mates which catches the most
>>>important ones but not all of course.
>>>
>>>Ed Schroder
>
>
>Here is the position:
>
>5r1k/6p/1n2Q2p/4p//7P/PP4PK/R1B1q/ w
>
>the position in ascii:
>
>       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
>    8  |   |   |   |   |   | *R|   | *K|
>       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
>    7  |   |   |   |   |   |   | *P|   |
>       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
>    6  |   | *N|   |   | Q |   |   | *P|
>       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
>    5  |   |   |   |   | *P|   |   |   |
>       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
>    4  |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |   |
>       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
>    3  |   |   |   |   |   |   |   | P |
>       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
>    2  | P | P |   |   |   |   | P | K |
>       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
>    1  | R |   | B |   | *Q|   |   |   |
>       +---+---+---+---+---+---+---+---+
>         a   b   c   d   e   f   g   h
>
>
>and my search results (PII/300 notebook):
>
>(early iterations like Qxb6 a lot, scores over +4.)
>                8     8.27   0.26   1. Qxb6 Rf1 2. Qd8+ Kh7 3. Qd3+ e4
>                                    4. Qxf1 Qxf1 5. b4 e3
>                8->   9.56   0.26   1. Qxb6 Rf1 2. Qd8+ Kh7 3. Qd3+ e4
>                                    4. Qxf1 Qxf1 5. b4 e3
>                9    10.54   0.57   1. Qxb6 Rf1 2. Qd8+ Kh7 3. Qd3+ e4
>                                    4. Qxf1 Qxf1 5. b4 e3 6. b5
>                9->  12.16   0.57   1. Qxb6 Rf1 2. Qd8+ Kh7 3. Qd3+ e4
>                                    4. Qxf1 Qxf1 5. b4 e3 6. b5
>               10    13.17     --   1. Qxb6
>               10    43.47   0.00   1. Qxb6 Rf1 2. Qd8+ Kh7 3. Qd3+ e4
>                                    4. Qxf1 Qxf1 5. Kg3 Qe1+ 6. Kh2 Qf1
>               10->  51.88   0.00   1. Qxb6 Rf1 2. Qd8+ Kh7 3. Qd3+ e4
>                                    4. Qxf1 Qxf1 5. Kg3 Qe1+ 6. Kh2 Qf1
>               11    54.47     --   1. Qxb6
>               11     1:47  -2.58   1. Qxb6 Rf1 2. Qd8+ Kh7 3. Qd3+ e4
>                                    4. Qxf1 Qxf1 5. a4 e3 6. Ra2 Qxc1 7.
>                                    b4 Kg6
>               11     2:12   0.00   1. Bxh6 Qxa1 2. Qxe5 Rf6 3. Bg5 Rf2
>                                    4. Qe8+ Kh7 5. Qh5+ Kg8 6. Qe8+ Kh7
>
>As I mentioned, this is from Cray Blitz vs Belle, 1981 ACM NACC tournament.
>
>Bob

I looked in this position and the latest version of Junior can find Bxh6 even at
depthes 8 or 9 (eqvivalent to brute force depth of 4,5)

It can find Bxh6 even at level 1 second per move on pentium200.

I think that Cray blitz and crafty has problem in this position relative to part
of the commercial programs.

Uri



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